Wood treatment with chemical preservatives is generally known. When the chemical treatment is applied, there are two types of treatability phenomena to consider. A first phenomenon is uptake. This can be defined as an amount of liquid that may be absorbed over a specified period of time over a specified cycle. A cycle may be characterized by an amount and duration of pressure and/or vacuum provided in the treating environment. A second phenomenon is penetration. This may be defined as the depth of absorption of liquid into the wood over a specified time and over a specified cycle.
Most properties of wood are highly variable. When a collection of multiple wood pieces are combined in a batch treating process, the natural variability in chemical uptake rate results in some pieces absorbing more chemical than necessary and others absorbing less chemical than necessary for effective treatment. A second problem is that cycle times may be extended beyond what is necessary for the wood to receive adequate treatment. Both of these problems can occur because the manufacturer is uncertain as far as knowing the wood piece's ability to receive the treatment. This results in additional and unnecessary costs to the manufacturer.
Accordingly, a need exists for a method to determine the treatability of wood products.